


Please Be Real

by lady_oneder



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Games, Mind Manipulation, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Protective Tony Stark, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is alive, Whump, well kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 05:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_oneder/pseuds/lady_oneder
Summary: SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME SPOILERSMysterio's illusions badly affected Peter, and now he's struggling to get two feet on the ground, constantly questioning what is real and what isn't. He needs reminding that Tony is there for him one particularly bad night.





	Please Be Real

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still in denial about Tony Stark being dead, and I'm heavily affected by all the Peter whump in FFH. Result? An angsty fic about how Tony is totally alive and has to comfort Peter. Seriously, when was Peter not being hurt? Iron Man everywhere, getting hit by a train, the girl he likes saying she only paid attention to him because of Spiderman? Y'all.
> 
> Anyway. We're ignoring the end-credits scene for now no matter how excited I am for it.

Peter woke up reaching out his hand to grasp onto something. He sat up gasping, starting to grasp at the blankets around him just to feel the material. He jumped out of bed and looked in the mirror, a bit relieved to see it was still him. His heart was ready to pound out of his chest, and, for a moment, he questioned whether that was real too.

Without thinking about it, Peter pulled on his suit a jumped out the window, internally apologizing to May about breaking his curfew. Swinging through the air was freeing to a certain degree, but now he was left wondering whether he was going to run into some building he couldn’t see or whether his web was really going to attach to the ledge he was shooting for. Each shot of the web made him question whether it was going to land or whether this would be the moment where he would fall. He had never been afraid of falling before, but now he was constantly waiting for everything in his vision to fade away.

He couldn’t breathe. He sat himself down on a ledge and took off the mask, gasping in the cool night air. It had been a while since he last swung around Queens, but it hadn’t been this bad before. The nightmares had gotten worse, and all Peter could think about these days was MJ falling with Peter not able to catch her. It left him with chills any time she brought up his secret identity, reminding him about the danger she was now in.

Peter opened his eyes to stare at the night life. It was beautiful from far away. From up high, Peter could pretend like the neighborhood didn’t even need Spiderman. He could pretend like he could go home and go to sleep like everything was fine. Then his vision flashed, and he was staring at the giant storm elemental. He flinched back, reminding himself it wasn’t real. It wasn’t real when he fought it, and it wasn’t real now. Still, Peter couldn’t help the way his eyes searched for Beck. Peter blinked again, and the monster was gone.

Peter was panicking. He felt it. He had to get off the ledge, so he swung himself lower, trying to ignore the way it seemed like the buildings would disappear with every swing. He landed in an alley and tried to control his breathing, but it felt like he was going to die. Mysterio was going to kill him, and no one would ever know what happened to him. May would wake up to find him gone, only to find out later that he was dead. Ned would try calling his phone a million times before eventually calling May to hear her sobbing on the line, explaining to his best friend that he was dead. MJ would try to act cool when Peter didn’t respond to her texts after a while and probably find out when May called her. Peter wouldn’t get to tell them that Beck did it. Beck killed him and was going to try to kill them.

“Hey, kid? Peter? I need you to concentrate for me, okay?” Peter heard a voice, but he couldn’t concentrate. He heaved another sob and wrapped his arms around himself. He wanted to go home. “Pete, please. You’re fine. I’m right here.” Peter looked up through his blurry vision to see Tony, making him cry even harder.

“You’re not real,” Peter cried out. He knew he wasn’t real. Mysterio showed him his grave, teasing him about Tony being dead. Tony wasn’t there, but he wasn’t dead. In the back of his mind Peter knew that, but Mysterio constantly made him question reality.

“Kid, I swear to you I’m real,” Tony said. He reached out to touch Peter, but Peter just kept shaking his head.

“No, you’re not. You’re not real. You’re not real. You’re not real,” Peter cried out. Tony hadn’t really expected to be trying to comfort Peter at 4 AM, but he thought the kid was dying when FRIDAY notified him about to continuous spikes in his heart rate.

“I’m real, Peter. I’m not leaving.” Tony pulled him into his arms, ignoring the fact that they were in some dirty alley. “Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“He’s going to kill me,” Peter whispered harshly into Tony’s shoulder.

“Who?”

“Beck.” Tony felt himself go dark at the mention of that name. The name put an unfathomable amount of anger in him. The feelings were unprecedented, and Tony would do anything to be able to go back and stop anything from happening to Peter.

“Beck’s gone, Pete.” Peter didn’t respond. Tony could still feel his shoulders shaking as he held him, so he pulled him tighter. “He can’t hurt you. I’ll protect you.”

“You’re not real,” Peter whispered. He knew Beck was playing with him, but he couldn’t help but hold onto the illusion for just a bit longer. “I want you to be real,” Peter moaned miserably.

“I’m real, Pete. I don’t know what I can do for you to prove it,” Tony whispered back, feeling his own voice start to waver as Peter continued to sob against him.

“Prove it. Tell me something. Tell me anything.” Tony fell silent, making Peter sob a bit harder. He hugged the illusion a bit more, not wanting for Beck to make it disappear. “Please don’t go. I don’t want you to go—”

“When we were on the bridge after the ferry incident,” Tony began, “I told you I wanted you to be better.” Peter’s sobs quieted down a bit so he could listen better. “I know people keep telling you that you have to live up to be the next Iron Man. I wish they could see that you’re already much better. You’re only sixteen, and you’re already doing bigger and better things than I could ever do.”

Tony continued to hold Peter, letting him bury his head in his neck so no one would see him in the suit if they were to peek down the alley. Tony rubbed Peter’s back, hoping he was starting to calm down a bit.

“I’m real,” Tony whispered again.

“Beck…”

“If he ever comes back,” Tony chuckled to himself. “I’ll kill him myself. He’ll never hurt you again. I’m not leaving.”

When Peter finally calmed down, he pulled back to look up. Tony didn’t let go, reassuring him that he was still there. Peter wiped some of the tears from his face, apologizing to Tony in a mutter.

“Thanks for being real,” Peter muttered pathetically. Tony laughed, pulling the kid in for another hug.

“Christ, kid. You can’t scare me like that.” Peter felt himself tear up again, but he sniffed and blinked them away.

“He made me see your grave, told me I’d be the reason you were dead,” Peter explained. “He killed MJ and, and—”

“And you saved everyone, including me and MJ,” Tony finished. He placed a hand on Peter’s head. “You saved us.”

“After I fucked it up,” Peter muttered, thinking about how easily he handed over the frames when Beck convinced him he’d talked to Tony.

“You thought you were doing the right thing, even if it wasn’t to better yourself. No one’s mad at you.”

“Only because they don’t know it was all my fault.”

“And they never will,” Tony replied, thinking about the clip FRIDAY managed to intercept from Beck's team. Peter kept sniffling, making Tony’s heart jump.

“I never know what’s real anymore,” Peter whispered. “I keep thinking everything will disappear, and he’ll appear, laughing in my face.” Tony tried to control his anger. “I keep swinging and missing, running into walls. He swipes the rug from underneath my feet, just when I think I’ve got my footing.”

“Peter, look at me,” Tony demanded. Peter’s eyes were red and glassy when he looked up. “You defeated him, not me, not the Avengers. You. Only you could. Only you were able to get past his illusions. He can’t hurt anybody else, and he can’t hurt you.” Peter sniffled and nodded along to Tony’s words. “Can I get you out of this alley now? It’s _way_ past your curfew.”

“Please don’t tell May,” Peter muttered, leaning into Tony’s side, innocently looking at him sadly. Tony snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Just promise you’ll call me if you can’t tell what’s real. I love you, kid.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
